Bright And Breezy
by badly-knitted
Summary: Dee is in a good mood; he and Ryo have a long weekend ahead, and he has a surprise for his baby. Written for Challenge 125: Breeze at beattheblackdog. Set after Vol. 7.


**Title:** Bright And Breezy

**Author:** badly-knitted

**Characters:** Dee, Ryo, Bikky.

**Rating:** PG

**Setting:** After Vol. 7.

**Summary:** Dee is in a good mood; he and Ryo have a long weekend ahead, and he has a surprise for his baby.

**Word Count:** 1939

**Content Notes:** None necessary.

**Written For: **Challenge 125: Breeze at beattheblackdog.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own FAKE, or the characters. They belong to the wonderful Sanami Matoh.

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Ryo glanced up as Dee breezed into the squad room with a cheery "Good morning!" Despite it being the start of shift there was a wide smile on his face and a spring in his step.

"You're in a good mood," Ryo observed; that was surprising considering what a grouch his partner had been the previous day, complaining about everything from the weather, to the coffee, to the idiot scumbags committing crimes when it was way too hot to chase them. Dee might consider him a bit of an airhead, but Ryo was a trained detective and there wasn't much of any importance that got past him, especially when it had to do with his partner.

Dee gave Ryo an enquiring look as he took off his jacket and hung it over the back of his chair. "Is there some reason I shouldn't be? It's a beautiful day, we have a long weekend of leisure coming up, and the forecast says it's going to stay bright and breezy throughout. Yep, I'd say I've got a lot to feel good about right now." His grin was so bright and happy that Ryo felt bad about having to rain on his parade.

"Well, as much as I hate to put a damper on things, we still have crimes to investigate and bad guys to catch."

"Yep! That's what we get paid the mediocre wages to do, puttin' our lives on the line every day so the general public can bitch at us and be ungrateful. But y'know what? Even that's not gonna get me down today!" Dee sprawled into the chair at his desk, his smile undimmed by the prospect of work. What was one more shift ahead of a four-day weekend? He was just counting down the hours, and the busier they were, the faster the time would pass.

Ryo eyed his partner suspiciously. "Okay, who are you and what did you do with the real Dee Laytner?"

Dee raised his eyebrows. "What's with you? You spent half of yesterday naggin' at me to stop bein' such a grouch, then when I make the effort to be more cheerful, suddenly you're on my case for that! Ever think maybe you should take your own advice and lighten up?"

Ryo shot his partner a sheepish grin. "You're right, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth; I should just be grateful that I won't have to listen to you complaining all day. You ready to get out on the streets?"

"We got a new case?"

"Yeah, aggravated assault. We get to visit the hospital and question the victim. According to reports, she's been pretty badly beaten."

That made Dee's smile falter a bit; questioning victims of violent crime could be almost as harrowing for the cops involved as it was for the person being forced to re-live events they'd rather forget. Nevertheless, Dee forced himself to look on the positive side. "Right, let's do that. With any luck the vic will be able to identify her attacker and we'll get to round the creep up and throw the book at him." There was a certain satisfaction to being able to close a case quickly, especially if it meant getting a dangerous criminal off the street.

Dee kept his smile in check during their time at the hospital, but as they left the victim's room he turned to Ryo with a savage grin. "Bingo! This one's gonna be a slam dunk!" The victim had indeed known her attacker, he was her ex-boyfriend; she even knew both his home and work addresses, his regular hangouts, and all the places he was most likely to lay low if, as seemed probable, he wasn't at any of those, so they were heading out to pick him up. This was the perfect case to land before a long weekend, one that could be solved and put to bed in a matter of hours, with minimum effort on their part.

A fresh breeze was getting up as they headed to their car, stirring the hot air and bringing some welcome relief to the sultry summer weather. Dee's good mood was starting to infect Ryo and he was looking forward to the end of their shift, and the four days off that stretched out in front of them.

It took them several hours to locate their suspect, trying all his usual haunts one after another, but thanks to the cooling breeze, when they finally tracked him down only for him make a break for it, even having to chase him was less of a chore than it would have been the previous day. Ryo found himself almost enjoying the exercise, matching Dee stride for stride, his long legs just about making up for Dee's height advantage. It was exhilarating, and when Dee tackled the guy, bringing him crashing down and flattening some discarded cardboard boxes in the process, Ryo was right there, handcuffs at the ready.

Getting the bastard to confess was almost too easy. Ten minutes in the interrogation room, faced with the fact that his ex had been ready, willing, and able to identify him despite the beating, and he crumbled. They hauled him away for booking, then tossed him in a holding cell. He'd get to cool his heels in jail until he was arraigned, but it the meantime, Dee and Ryo had vacation time pending.

The chief was so pleased with how quickly they'd closed their latest case that as soon as the paperwork was filled out and handed in he let them leave, even though there was still over an hour of their shift to go. They were out of there in nothing flat, heading for Dee's car.

"WOOHOO!" Dee whooped as he fired up the engine and put the car in gear. "Long weekend, here we come! I've got it all planned; we'll swing by your place on the way. All you have to do is throw a few things in a bag. Mine's already in the trunk."

"On the way where? And what about Bikky?"

"All taken care of; he'll be staying at Carol's while we're away. Everything's arranged."

That was news to Ryo. "And you didn't think to tell me? What if I've made other plans?" Ryo asked, incredulous. Dee had some nerve, making plans for the both of them without consulting him first.

"Have you?" Dee shot him a quick glance, eyebrow raised, before turning back to the road, weaving his way through the afternoon traffic with the skill that came from long practice.

"Well, no, I'd have told you if I had…"

"Exactly! And if I'd told you I was makin' plans for our time off, you'd have probably come up with some reason why you couldn't go; chores to do or some such. You need a break as much as I do. It'll be fun, I promise, and the weather couldn't be better."

"Not getting out of this, am I?"

"No way. Sorry, babe, but this is a done deal and you're comin' with, no matter what it takes. It's for your own good."

"I suppose I should probably just give in gracefully then."

"I'd prefer if you did."

"So are you going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope! Wouldn't be much of a surprise if I did, now would it?"

"I guess not." Ryo graced his lover with a wry smile. Then he thought of something and frowned. "But if I don't know where we're going, how am I supposed to know what to pack?"

Dee rolled his eyes. "It's a vacation, not rocket science! Casuals. Jeans, shorts, t-shirts, swimwear, sunscreen; that should be enough. It's pretty much what's in my bag."

"Oh. Okay."

At Ryo's apartment, Bikky was tossing things in his bag for his weekend at Carol's. Dee said they'd drop the boy off on their way to their secret destination, so with a resigned shrug Ryo went into his bedroom and packed what Dee had told him to, along with other essentials such as towels, shaving kit, toothbrush… It took him less than ten minutes, but even so, when he came out with his bag slung over his shoulder Dee and Bikky were waiting impatiently by the door for him.

"What kept ya?"

"Some of us fold things when we pack," Ryo replied, eying Bikky's bag, where clothing was oozing out the top.

"Well, you're here now, so let's get movin'." Dee pulled the door open and headed for the stairs, Bikky practically on his heels. Shaking his head, Ryo checked the lights were all turned off, locked up and followed his lover and foster son down to the street.

After dropping Bikky at Carol's aunt's house and telling him to behave himself, Ryo got back into Dee's car, still none the wiser about where Dee was taking him, but somehow it didn't seem to matter as much now. They had the car windows rolled down letting the breeze cool them as they drove across the Wiliamsburg Bridge and cut through Brooklyn, heading for the coast and Long Island. Two hours later Dee still showed no signs of stopping.

"You know, if we keep going much further we'll run out of road," Ryo joked, feeling more relaxed than he had in weeks. The summer heatwave had brought out the crazies, meaning there'd been a spike in violent crimes over the past couple of months, and every cop in the NYPD had been run off their feet trying to keep on top of the situation.

"Yep! That's the general idea," Dee smirked smugly.

Something finally clicked in Ryo's brain. "We're going to Montauk?"

"Got it in one. You've said often enough you'd like to go there, so I figured why not? Booked us into a small guesthouse not too far from the point. Can you think of a better spot to catch the breeze off the ocean?"

Ryo sighed with contentment; this just proved how well Dee listened to him. "I honestly don't think I can. Thanks, Dee; this is the best surprise I can imagine."

"And we don't even have to deal with the house ape taggin' along and complainin' there's nothin' to do."

"Just as long as you don't start complaining for the same reason," Ryo teased. Dee was a city boy, more at home among New York's clubs and bars.

Dee laughed. "Not gonna happen, babe; I can think of loads of things to do. We can visit the lighthouse, laze on the beaches and swim in the sea. If we get tired of that we have no less than six state parks to hike in, or we could charter a boat and go fishin'…"

"You really have thought this through, haven't you?"

"Damn straight! Been plannin' this surprise for a couple months, just waitin' for the right opportunity. But the most important thing on this trip is to relax. Summer's comin' to an end soon; it's time to make the most of the sunshine while we've still got it."

"You'll get no argument from me." Ryo gazed out the window at the scenery slipping by. Yes, there were at least a dozen things back home he probably should've been doing over the long weekend, but all of them could wait a while longer. He settled back in his seat again, enjoying the feel of the breeze through the open window ruffling his hair. Getting away from it all with the man he loved was a far better way of spending a few days off than doing housework, and he planned on enjoying every second of this unexpected vacation.

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The End


End file.
